Haunting
by Draguna Doragon
Summary: 3 daemons trapped in a mansion. A field trip will awaken Iruka's chilling past, the man he once kept his dark secret, his broken heart, and his students will get caught up in the demonic chaos, in that haunted mansion. Kakaruka, Narusasu,GaaraHina
1. Looking back

Chapter 1

"_Liar! Liar! Liar!"_

"_I'm not lying! I swear!"_

"_You know what happens to liars, Umino."_

"_No, please! I'm NOT lying!"_

"_Help me! Help, someone! Someone __**please**__ help me!"_

"_Iruka, help us! Call him off!"_

"_**Don't you even **__**look**__** at my Ru-kun. Filthy human **__**scum."**_

"_Oh Kami…the blood…"_

"_AAAA!" _

"…_I can taste it…blood…my friends…y…you killed them…"_

"_**I did it for you, Ru-kun."**_

"_NO! NO NO NO NO!"_

"_R, Ru-kun! Don't leave! Please, come back! I'm sorry!"_

"_No you're not! You Bakamono!"_

"_Ru-kun!"_

"_NOOO!"_

"Iruka-sensei?"

"Ah!" The 23 year old Iruka Umino jumped with a start, clutching at his chest, darting frantic hazel eyes towards the intruder. Only to see his pale faced, pale haired colleague. He released a deep breath on a sigh, softening his features with a relieved smile. "Mizuki-sensei. You startled me."

"I can see that." He chuckled, and pulled a chair up to his desk. The two men had known each other for about a year now, both having graduated from different universities and come to teach at the same secondary school. Mizuki taught physics, where Iruka taught English. "Damn it Iruka, you've been like this for weeks now. why are you so jumpy?"

"No reason, Mizuki. Just a little stressed, I guess."

"I should say so, with all the work you've been doing lately. Every weekend you're marking papers 12 hours a day, and teaching here during the day during the week. When was the last time you had a break?!"

"…before I entered university?" Mizuki stared at him, and narrowed his eyes at him.

"Then you better get your bag packed, as you're _going_ on the school strip next week."

"M Mizuki, I can't." Iruka gulped, his honey tanned hands trembling on his knees under the table. If only his black breeches could have restricted the shaking of his knees, or his long sleeved woolly green jumper suppress the chill running down his spine. He forced a grin, and chuckled. "Besides, that staff list went out _months_ ago, ne?"

"Hai. And I put your name on it." Mizuki smirked, but Iruka paled.

Damn.

At times, Mizuki was a cunning little devil. "Me and you are heading the trip."

"H who else is going?" Iruka gulped, fear bubbling in the pit of his stomach as he thought of it.

A few months back, a letter had been addressed to _him_.

Now, this in itself wasn't too odd. Just getting mail sent to you at home isn't strange on post day. But the letter wasn't on a piece of paper, but an old rolled up _scroll_ in a leather cylinder, with a strange black wax seal on it. He later discovered the Kanji pressed into the wax meant 'wolf'. The letter itself was written in a sharp style of handwriting…in _red_ ink. For a scary moment, he thought it was blood. But that was preposterous. Who would write a letter in blood?

The contents of the letter was a very complimentary invitation for him to take a class up to the letter writer's residence for an educational trip, spanning over 2 weeks in the next half term, where they could learn of the historical relevance of their town from the most preserved architectural building left in the area.

On the front of it, putting aside the eerie appearance of the letter, it seemed a very educational beneficial excuse to get his students out of the stuffy classrooms and into a lush mansion for 2 weeks after a string of very taxing exams. They deserved time off, and this would be the perfect thing.

And Iruka grinned, seeing it as an excuse for _him_ to get a holiday too.

Until he saw the name of the mansion.

The Biju Estate.

_The_ Biju Estate.

Iruka felt like he'd been smacked in the face, dropping the scroll to the floor in his kitchen, and cowering back against his counter, _staring_ at it with horror.

For 10 years, he'd been able to ignore the existence of that looming mansion 5 blocks away from him. Out of sight, out of mind. For _10 years_, he'd never heard or seen that name.

But now, there it was, staring at him in sinister red 'ink', inviting old memories to surface to the brink of his sanity. He could hear the 13 year old version of himself screaming in horror, his legs feeling weak, recollecting their strained effort to carry him as far from _that place_ as fast as they could.

He tried to ignore the scroll, leaving it on his kitchen table, only to find out that an identical scroll had been sent to the headmaster of his school.

And Iruka had been _named_.

He had been _personally requested_ to escort the trip, and the headmaster approved it.

_That fool probably saw educational trip, no fee, and approved it immediately._

It had taken some high class wriggling out of that one, saying he had too much work to do.

But if Mizuki had signed him up after all this time without telling him…

"Gai-sensei is going too. He's got nothing better to do now that his physical exams are over, so he, being the 'ever enthusiastic little helper' volunteered himself. Let me see…" Mizuki closed his eyes in thought, and Iruka gulped deeply.

This was it. There was no way of escaping going back _there_ now his friend had unknowingly _doomed_ him. "Kurenai-sensei said she'd go if Asuma-sensei went. You know, so they could 'share a room to save money'. Pah! Who are _they_ kidding, ay Iruka-sensei?"

"Heh…heh…yeah…" Iruka sweatdropped, and averted his eyes.

A sudden flash of silver hair, jutted in spikes to one side, and a warm coal eye curved with a welcoming smile flashed into his head, and a rich voice hushed in his memory.

"_Well hello there. Would you like to come in little one?"_

"Iruka-sensei?"

Again, Iruka jumped, and forced a weak chuckle.

"Hai?"

"It's Friday. You just have a the next lesson, then you get to go home, do _no_ work, _rest_ this weekend, and meet the coach in the school car park on Monday morning. It's not difficult. I'll even wait for you outside, if you like."

"Daijoubu, I'll be there." Mizuki raised a brow at him, and Iruka punctuated his innocence with a chuckle.

"Alright, but if you don't, I'll make the coach stop outside your house and _drag_ you on it. You deserve a break, Iruka. And as your friend, I intend to make sure you get one."

"Hai hai, I understand." Iruka ran a hand back over his head, wishing he hadn't tied his shoulder length chocolate brown hair back in a practical pigtail, so he could tangle his fingers in it. For some reason, it felt good to ruffle your hair when you're stressed.

"Alight. Well, I'll see you later then." Mizuki got up, in perfect sync with the bell for last lesson. "See you later."

"See ya."

As his pale haired friend left his classroom, he was immediately replaced with the steady stream of pupils for his English class.

Iruka released a deep breath, professionally pushing his personal issues aside to conduct his lesson, and flicked through his lesson planner.

He got to his register, and raised his head to the class, beaming like he always did. "Ohayo class.

"Ohayo Iruka-sensei." They all chorused, and he smiled at them.

"Aburame Shino?"

"Hai."

"Akimichi Choji?"

"Konichiwa."

"Haruno Sakura?"

"Hai, Iruka-sensei!" Iruka looked up and nodded a smile at his bubblegum pink haired pupil. Sakura, always smiling, his brightest student.

"Hyuuga Hinata?"

"…hai sensei."

"Hyuuga Neji?

"Hai."

"Inuzuka Kiba?"

"Hai!"

"Rock Lee?"

"Hai Iruka-sensei!" His most enthusiastic student jumped up and punched the air.

"Nara Shikamaru?"

"_Hai._" His _laziest_ student droned on his desk.

"Tenten?"

"Hai sensei."

"Uchiha Sasuke?"

"Hn." Iruka looked up, and frowned. Once again Sasuke had sat himself strategically dead centre in the middle row of the class room, his chin perched on interlocked fingers, his elbows supporting him on the desk, and his keen onyx eyes locked on him. that boy seriously worried him, with his icy aloof attitude, yet brilliant grades. If it wasn't for his academic record, Iruka would have sent him to the headmaster's office for a nice long chat about…everything. Although, I suppose it might be his new style, this 'emo' thing that's going round these days.

"And Yamanaka Ino?"

"Hai sensei." She sighed dreamily, gazing doe eyed at the young Uchiha by her side. Sakura then glared from the _other_ side of Sasuke, and tried to get Sasuke's attention instead. But he ignored them both, used to this fan-girl treatment after so many years of it.

"Right, well." Iruka coughed into his hand, and beamed at them all. "I have some good news." _I suppose._ "I'll be leading the class trip next week." There was an eruption of cheers from the class, and Iruka had to smile despite his increasingly queasy stomach. It seems his class were looking forward to this far more than he was.

Well, that was obvious for obvious reasons…

"Alright! I was worried about it just being Strict Mizuki and purvey Gai!" Kiba barked a laugh, only to have Lee punch his arm.

"I would be perfectly happy having Gai-sensei lead our trip!"

"Yeah, _you_ would, Lee." Kiba purred suggestively, only to receive another whack over the head from Tenten.

"Don't be an ass, Kiba." But she was smirking, and Iruka had to stand up to get them to quiet down again.

Though he agreed with them. Gai, the maniac PE teacher was a little _too_ enthusiastic towards his job. He liked his students a little _too_ much…

But deep down, he was a good guy, so Iruka gave him his respect.

And a wide berth.

"So, you know about the arrangements, I assume?"

"Sensei!"

"Hai Sakura-chan?" Iruka sat on the edge of his desk, preferring the more personal on their level kind of approach to teaching. He put his hands over the knees of his jeans and waited with a patient smile.

"We are to all meet at 7am in the front car park, where our bags will be loaded onto the coach, and we will all be seated and go straight to the mansion on to Konoha avenue and up Hokage drive. I've seen that place a few times, sensei. It looks really cool!"

"I looks _haunted_, Sakura." Ino smirked at her pink haired rival, who sneered at her instantly.

"No it isn't. There's no such thing as ghosts. Isn't that right sensei?"

Iruka blinked, and picked up his planner. Doing what he was doing a lot recently.

A topic swerve.

"Today we shall be looking into different examples of discourse in everyday speech."

oo00oo

Nothing was worse for keeping something secret, than being in a room full of 17 year olds. Sure, the smaller kids were stubborn and nosey, but they weren't perceptive enough to know whether something was being covered up or bothering their sensei.

Unlike 17-year-old Sasuke, who seemed to raise his brow at Iruka too many times to be normal (for Sasuke) in one hour.

But Iruka pushed that aside, choosing instead to drive home as quickly as possible (and safe), blunder into his cosy little flat and sprint up the stairs to his apartment on the top floor.

It consisted of a living room, a corner kitchen, a bathroom, and single bedroom.

_Ok, so it's basic. For now, it's all I need._ Iruka sighed contently, ignoring the piles and piles of paperwork on his living room Kotatsu, dumped his satchel by the locked door, and walked straight into his kitchen.

Ice cream.

Ice cream would solve _all_ his problems.

Iruka chuckled, pulling a carton of his favourite ice cream, cookie dough chocolate chip, and poising a spoon above it. He brought one mouth watering scoop of it to his tongue, and sank in his chair with a delighted moan.

Oh yes, ice cream solved any illness, physical and mental.

So his stress just ebbed away from him as he dug through the carton.

But like any suppressant, it soon wore off, making him think about the very thing he managed to forget for all of 20 blissful minutes.

He was going back _there_, after 10 years.

"I'm sure the new owner will be very nice and informative about the local heritage." He tried, but it still didn't wash. How on earth would a new owner know him, _by name_, where he worked, and who he worked _for_? Not to mention his address.

_But a ghost wouldn't know any of those things either. He…he couldn't still be there. I was a stupid little kid!_

Iruka growled, throwing the empty carton in the bin and pulling his chocolate brown hair from his bobble. It fell by his shoulders, and at last, he ran his hands back through them. He then smoothed his hands over his face, pinching at the scared ridge of his nose, and tracing it with his _I was 13. Of __course__ something scary like that would make me think of monsters and ghosts. I was just a kid, and that was just a very scary…experience…in my head…like Dr Orochimaru said, all in my head…_


	2. Connection made

_**Flash back, 10 years ago**_

"Kami, Iruka! You are _so_ stupid! There are _no_ such things as Ghosts!"

"Are to!" Iruka pouted, his hazel eyes defiantly narrowed and his fists thrown down by his sides. "I've seen one!"

"Liar!"

"Am not Kenji!"

"You're a lair, and you look like a _girl_. Why do you have long hair? Why tie it in a ponytail like a _girl_. Is there something you're not telling me, Iruka-_chan_?"

"Stop that Kenji! My momma liked my hair long!" Iruka resisted shoving his ebony haired friend and shoving his spiky hair down the nest bin they walked past. Ever since his parents died a year ago, Iruka couldn't help but read as much as he could about life after death, to find out where his parents would have done to.

And he felt like someone was always watching over him, so it had to be his parents, right? As ghosts. Why not? Who could prove they didn't exist? And plenty of people have seen them, from the research he did on the internet.

Iruka pouted, folding his arms over his white tank top and denim blue dungarees. They looked like regular jeans, but the straps were dangling over his legs fashionably.

It was the craze at the moment, as his best friend from the house across the street also wore some, but with a red long sleeved shirt.

"You say you've seen one? where?" Iruka sweat dropped, and chuckled to the side.

"Well, _I_ haven't seen one personally, demo-"

"See! You're a liar!" Kenji rolled his blue eyes at him, and smirked devilishly. "But…I suppose you could prove both your story, and your balls, Iruka."

"Oro?" Iruka blinked at him, and cocked his head to one side, his hands now in his pockets. "How?"

Kenji gleamed, folding his arms with a cocky smirk spreading over his lips.

"The Biju Estate." Iruka unwillingly shuddered, the sheer name chilling him.

"The old mansion a few blocks over? How would-"

"It's supposed to be 'haunted'."

"…so?" Iruka gulped, already seeing where this was going, and wishing he had kept his big mouth shut. He shouldn't have been talking so opening to Kenji about his beliefs in the afterlife. Kenji hated that sort of thing. Anything past pranks, crude jokes and girls, and he wasn't interested.

Iruka didn't see the great appeal of girls. Maybe it would come with time? I mean, he was only 13.

"So? So!" Kenji side stepped in front of Iruka, halting him. "So, I _dare_ you to spend the _entire_ night."

Iruka gulped loudly, hands trembling in his pockets.

"The…_entire_ night?"

"Alone."

"…_alone_?!"

"And I'll come get you the next morning. I _swear_." Kenji raised his hand in honour, but a cheeky smirk. "Unless of course…"

The next two words shaped the rest of his life. "…you're _afraid_?"

"No way!" He couldn't help it. His response was on impulse.

"Then you'll go tonight. It's a Friday night, you're Social worker's already checked on you today, and will never know if you get home before dinnertime tomorrow. No school Iruka, nothing holding you back. Prove that Ghosts exist, prove you're a man. And I'll be your friend." Iruka blanched, his hazel eyes wide.

"Demo…you _are_ my friend." The silent raise of an ebony eyebrow was enough to convince him otherwise. "…I thought-"

"Do this, and it won't matter anyway."

"Why _should_ this matter?! Why are you always making me out to be a trashy sissy boy?!?!"

"Because you _are_ one." Kenji poked him hard in the chest. "I see the way you _don't_ look at girls, Iruka. I will _not_ be friends with a homo."

Iruka felt his heart skip a beat, jolts of electric betrayal coursing through him. Did Kenji just say… "So do this, and I'll know you're not, and we can be friends. K?"

And just like that, Kenji strode off home, leaving Iruka to wallow on his own, dwelling on spending the entire night in a creaky, creepy haunted house.

_Why did I open my big mouth?_

_**Later that day**_

"Iruka-_chan_, you ready?"

"Hai hai, Kenji." Iruka sighed, stood at the very edge of the drive up to the mansion, and his sanity. The winding drive led up to a dark, looming looking house. It looked ancient, with it's one level, traditional sliding Shoji doors and dark mahogany raised floors and walls. It had a tiled red roof, with a flat top, but it was a _true_ estate, large enough to be it's own community and spanning over three _huge_ wings. There was also a creepy looking cemetery on the left side of the driveway, withered Sakura trees twisted like in all the horror movies, and in the darkness of the evening (8pm now) they appeared to be moving with a life of their own in the breeze…

"Got everything you need? 'coz you can't chicken out now."

"I know Kenji."

"You better!" Iruka frowned. Why did Kenji have to bring his other mates here? By his right stood a rotund boy, with a bald head and beady black eyes, dressed in the same style dungarees, but a large yellow hoody and red baseball hat. That was Moji, a thug of a boy who always pushed Iruka at school. To his left was a much thinner boy, looking as normal as anyone else in dungarees and a light brown T shirt. He had a mop of brown hair cut to his ears, and scowled with green eyes at Iruka. He was Fukata, nasty piece of work. He was remembered most in school by his violent attacks on a different student every year.

This year happened to be Iruka…

They all had pale skin, making him, the only tanned one there, feel like an outsider. But it was his natural skin colour, so he couldn't do anything about it.

"Good. Because if you back out now…" Fukata cracked the knuckles of his fist in the other hand, making Iruka take a tentative step onto the drive.

"Wouldn't dream of it." He chuckled nervously, and looked to Kenji.

"See ya round, Iruka-Chan." They all chorused, leaving Iruka to grip at his bulging satchel, and turn to look at the foreboding building.

He sucked in a breath, and nodded with determination.

If staying on your own inside a strange half decrepit mansion with nothing by a torchlight and my other items he could grab and swing at any moment proved he wasn't gay to Kenji, securing him a friend at last, then onward ho!

Iruka nodded again, and set his feet into motion. Each step however, as he got closer and closer to the front door, got slower and slower, the foreboding ambiance of the place seeping into him, until his blood ran cold.

But it was too late to turn back now, so he raised his honey skinned hand, trembling in the air, to the front Shoji door.

Only for it to slide open.

"Well hello there. Would you like to come in little one?"

Iruka, for the first time in his life, went bug eyed and felt his jaw go slack, unhinging in a soft 'o'.

Stood before him was the most attractive man he had ever seen.

He was tall, easily close to 7 feet, wearing dark black trousers, and a tight, _tight_ black tank top. He also had fingerless gloves on with metallic plates on the back of his hands, but that wasn't what caught his attention at the moment.

His arms were long and supple, moon kissed, a soft pale peach, contrasted by his dark clothing and a black swirling tattoo over his left bicep. His broad shoulders supported an elegant neck, covered by a black face-tight mask from the base of his collar bone, upwards, until it tucked up the ridge of his nose. He had gravity defying silver hair, spiked to the left with a short bangs spiked forward over his left eye. He had a wide black head band tied on a slant round his face, jutting over his left eye under his slight fringe and wrapping on an angle above his right ear. It tied at the back of his head, but came down in two long ribbon like pieces, billowing in the evening breeze.

But still, after _all that_, that _wasn't_ what he was looking at.

But the one visible, half curved, warm, un-judgemental coal eye happily watching the poor boy fight off a nosebleed.

He released a rich chuckle through his mask, and leaned forward with his elbows on the frame of the doorway at either side of him. "It's a little cold. Don't you want to come in? I mean, you went through all the trouble of packing an overnight bag. The least I could do, is open the door and take my guest's luggage." He curved his eye at him, and reached forward with one fingerless gloved hand.

This seemed to snap Iruka out of his stupor, and took his words as sarcasm rather than kindness. Assuming this was his cue to get the hell out of there, Iruka bowed his head, clutching at the strap of his satchel over his front.

"Gomennasai. I shouldn't be here. I didn't know anyone lived here. I-ah!" A firm hand fisted at the bag strap over his chest and yanked him clean inside, the other making a job of _slamming_ the shoji door shut. Iruka stumbled over his trainers, and span round in shock.

The man had placed himself between Iruka and the door, preventing any escape.

"Daijoubu, Daijoubu. I guess I didn't make a big deal of it when I moved in." he chuckled, and behind his back, Iruka heard the click of a lock.

He was now locked inside with this guy. "And, who do I have the pleasure of entertaining this fine evening?" He cocked his silver head to one side, and stepped towards him.

Iruka blinked, and took a step back.

"Umino Iruka." He bowed his head sharply, taking another step back as the devilishly attractive man advanced on him slowly.

"Pleased to meet you, Iruka-kun." He then stopped, and made a show of kneeling before him, and bowed until his forehead touched the floor. "My name is Hatake Kakashi. Allow me to care for you while you are in my home."

And that is how it begun. The start of Iruka's life and the end of it as he knew it.

So that was this devastatingly captivating man's name.

"Kakashi…" Iruka gulped, and waved his hands in front of his face, taking an exaggerated step backwards comically, sweat dropping and going very pale. "You're home?!?! Y, you _live_ here?!?!" _Oh SHIT!_

"Hai, I sure do." He just chuckled, and cocked his head to one side with a curved eye and bright smile. Beneath his mask, of course. He got to his feet, brushing large hands down his lengthy legs. "So. Iruka-kun, may I call you Iruka-kun?"

"H hai, Kakashi-san."

"Iie!" Kakashi suddenly crouched before him, Ninja-Spiderman style, making Iruka jump, and tapped his nose with a chuckle. "Do I _look_ like a formal kinda guy?" Iruka took one look over his _bizarre_ attire, wearing just a black tank top in these chilling halls in _winter_, in the _evening_, his wacky hair colour and style…and nodded with a sweatdrop. He was _not_ the formal kind.

_Or the __normal__ kind for that matter…_

And he wasn't talking about the fact that he wasn't wearing a coat.

_I didn't wear a coat or anything earlier, but it was warmer then. _

"Iie, I guess you don't."

"Then it's settled!" . he chuckled again. It was soothing, that chuckle. It was real and heartfelt. "You'll call me Kakashi-kun." Iruka gasped. He was a 13 year old _boy_, and this was a fully grown _man._ He couldn't act so familiar and address him like that! "Actually…" Kakashi closed his eye in thought, and Iruka relaxed, assuming Kakashi had also drawn the same conclusion as he had.

To be very wrong. "Call me Ka-kun!"

Yes, this was one _weird_ dude. Iruka almost fell over.

"I, erm…I don't think that-"

"And _I'll_ call you Ru-kun!" Kakashi chuckled, standing at his full height, towering over poor stuttering Iruka, and placing a hand on his shoulder with a broad smile. "Now, you hungry Ru-kun?" Iruka blushed, never having had a pet name before.

"I, well-"

"I know it's a little late for you to be eating, but I thought I'd get some nice home made ramen ready for you, oh, and chocolate chip cookies and milk for afters, of course!" Kakashi barked a laugh, seemingly thoroughly enjoying himself, where Iruka was stunned.

Not only were those his favourite foods in the world…

…but it sounded like Kakashi had been _expecting_ him.

He insinuated that earlier, too.

"_It's a little cold. Don't you want to come in? I mean, you went through all the trouble of packing an overnight bag. The least I could do, is open the door and take my guest's luggage."_

Had he been expecting him? but he wouldn't have asked for his name, had he known…right?

"I didn't know anyone was living here." Iruka just followed the silver haired man as he took his bag (apparently insistent on it) towards…somewhere.

The inside of the house was both grand, and intimidating. Far more so than the outside. It was all traditional, clean despite the expectations of cobwebs and layers of historic dust in 'haunted' houses. The walls were a dark rough wood, probably mahogany, with lots of ink paintings of mountains, animals, people…monsters…and fine calligraphy here and there to.

But the monsters…

There were repetitions of 9 different demons around the house. Three of which, had special white gold frames, the others with simple wood, covered by maroon curtains to hide whatever they held from the wrong pair of eyes.

The first golden picture held what _looked_ like the Tanuki in common nursery rhymes and children's songs.

Except this didn't just look like some giggling, possibly drunk hybrid mongrel of a racoon and a dog or badger. It was hideous, a large creature with what looked like a mangled torso dangling with its claws protruding through its rib cage, pried open, blood dripping from the wide jaws of the monster. Its rounded black eyes had three strange lighter markings in it's pupils, and they seemed to be watching Iruka as he hurriedly walked past it.

The next golden frame, made Iruka's heart skip a beat.

It had nine swirling tails fanned around its hunched body, deep ferocious eyes wide, jaws bared with blood stains, and what looked like three arms protruding from one side, and a head lolling from a broken neck at the other side. The large Kitsune, was perched on a massive heap of mangled corpses, all of which, had a look of utter anguish on their dead faces. The demon's large claws dug into their bodies, and again, Iruka not only got a chill, but the weird sensation of being watching as he passed it.

And just as he came to the final one, Kakashi yanked the curtains closed over it, and stood before it, chuckling nervously. "I guess I need to redecorate…heh heh…" Iruka just raised a brow at him, and cocked his head to one side, his high ponytail bobbing with the movement. "Maaa, Ru-kun." Iruka blushed, but nodded. "I need you to promise you won't look at any of these, no da." He then grabbed a large golden cord running along the wall, and the other two portraits had their curtains drawn in one shift tug.

"Daijoubu, Kakashi-san."

"Iie, Ka-kun, Ru-kun." His eye curved again, and his warm chuckle brought a smile to Iruka's face. "Say it, _Ka-kun_."

"…Ka-kun…" He mumbled begrudgingly, as his cheeks burned, and he shifted from one foot to the next.

Hatake Kakashi was definitely a strange, _strange_ individual.

And yet…he made him smile, and seemed very nice.

"Arigato!" He beamed, and turned on his heels, leading the way to the kitchen. "Ramen, cookies and milk, ho!"

Iruka decided to ignore the strange feeling of being prepared coming from his host, and overlooked his dire interest in _that portrait_, fifth in the line of nine.

He sighed, shoved his hands in his denim pockets and trudged after his ecstatic guide. "Ru-kun! Over here!"

"Hai Kaka…Ka-kun." Iruka bashfully smiled up at Kakashi, finding him with a towel over his arm like a waiter outside of the kitchen, holding another door open.

"Please seat yourself in the adjoining room, and super will be served!"

"H hai, arigato." Iruka did as he was told, and knelt by the Kotatsu, hiding his legs underneath its warm covers. He then gulped, twiddling his thumbs together on the table.

He was in a 'haunted house'.

In a strange man's home.

Alone.

About to have ramen and cookies and milk.

It was so damn awkward, and he couldn't seem to get rid of the feeling of _a_, being watched, and _b_, being pounced on at any second.

And at that very moment the temperature in the room dropped, and Iruka shivered, wrapping his arms around himself just to stay warm. As he rubbed his arms, he looked around the room. The floors were dark rough wood, as were the walls, and there were wall scrolls hung here and there, most of them ink painted bamboo or birds in mid flight.

It got even colder, and he decided that he wished he'd not let Kakashi take his satchel from him. He had a coat inside there he could have used right about now. The thin material of his white tank top did little if any good, his bare arms breaking out in goosebumps even as he rubbed them.

It was so quiet, he could here the soft eerie creaking of the walls, the trees swaying decrepitly outside the window, faint howling through the walls, heavy rain beating down on the windows as the storm the news predicted hit full swing, and-

_Wait._ Iruka blinked, turning towards the to his left, the closest one to him and the one attached to the door in the far corner he entered through.

The same wall, which Kakashi was stood behind, a sadistic grin on his face, demonic twinkle in his onyx eye, leaning against the wall with his back, his head resting against the wood, one arm shoved in his trouser pocket, and the other suspiciously pointing up at the air.

But Iruka couldn't see through walls, so he couldn't notice how every time Kakashi made a small circle with his finger, the air around him got colder, and the soft yowling grew into hissing snarls.

Iruka's terrified hazel eyes snapped wide open, and he put his trembling hands on the table, gulping.

It sounded like he was surrounded by a pack of ravenous dogs, no, _wolves_, and he could almost see their gleaming eyes in the dark shadows of the room.

There were only a few candles illuminating the entire dinning room, giving it the perfect spine-chilling ambiance.

Behind the wall, Kakashi cupped his hands like an amplifying horn round his masked mouth, and exhaled.

Iruka snapped his head in the opposite direction, as a loud screeching cry of anguish rattled the shoji screens in the corner of the room. It sounded like a woman, and she screamed again.

She screamed his name.

"IIIRRRRUUUUKKKAAAA UUUUUMMMMMIINNOOOO MMUUUUSSTTT **DDDDIIIEEEE!!!!!**"

"AAAAAAAA!" Iruka felt two cold hands grip at his ankles under the table, and whipped him underneath it before he could draw breath to scream for help.

He clawed at the floor, but the mysterious hands pulled him under, making him bang his head on the underside of the table as he tried to sit up.

There was no one under the table with him, and the warming cover of the Kotatsu fell down to veil the rest of the room from him. His poor little heart was hammering rapidly against his ribs, hyperventilating and his eyes wide, tears stinging them already.

"IRUKA MUST DIE!" That bone chilling woman's voice, high pitch and daunting, made him whimper, crouched on all fours under the table, not daring to crawl out to meet her.

The table cover started spinning above him, the ends of it flapping round him and the very table shook.

Iruka was breathing so hard, his lungs ached and he felt faint, but he couldn't move! His bones locked into place, his eyes wide and darting with his head from side to side.

The howling dogs didn't stop, neither did the screams of the woman, and the sounds of many furious footsteps stomping all around the room, the table, _on_ the table, got louder and louder, until he thought whoever was making those footsteps were going to crash through the table and be upon him at any second.

He was petrified, adrenaline coursing through his numb limbs, fingers digging into the floor, mouth open with his gasping panting, chest heaving, the hairs on the back of his hands and neck on end, and heavy distraught tears streamed down his cheeks, dripping off his face like a tap, he was _that_ scared.

"IIIIRRRUUUUKKKKAAA!"

Bang.

Iruka didn't know how he did it, but he forced his limbs forward, his fight or flight mechanism choosing to run for it, bolted from under the table, eyes screwed shut and racing for the door. He opened his mouth wide, eyes still closed, as he tore through the doorway.

"KAAAAKAAAASSHHHIII!" Iruka tripped over his own feet, hurtling forwards as he turned the corner, falling flat on his face. He clawed at the floor, scrambling back to his feet and running forward, eyes still closed. The disturbing noises from next door all he needed as motivation to get the _hell_ out of there.

He then dug his heels down, pivoted on his heels, and stared at the door behind him.

The kitchen door.

Kakashi went in there.

"_Call me Ka-kun! And I'll call you Ru-kun!"_

He couldn't leave him. His smile was so bright and his words so ungrudgingly kind.

"Ka-kun! We have to get out of here!" Iruka whimpered, and forced himself back towards _that room_, leaping into the kitchen and throwing his head from side to side.

The was no one there. "KA-KUN!"

"What are you doing…?"

"Ka-kun!" Iruka sobbed, throwing himself at the seemingly stunned man. He clung to his waist, arms wrapping around his middle and his face buried into his gut, making Kakashi stumble backwards slightly. "I I I th thought you'd been, you'd been, Kakashi!" Iruka cried, squeezing him tightly. "W we have to get out of here! It's haunted, _really_ haunted! Come on!" Iruka pulled away, grabbed his hand and started running, dragging Kakashi with him.

But Kakashi used his weight against the waif of a boy to halt them, and Iruka skidded forward, but didn't keep running.

Kakashi watched as Iruka tuned back, took his hand again, and tried to pull him forward. "Kakashi! We have to-"

"Aren't you scared?"

"Hai!" Iruka squeaked, his lips trembling, tears slugging down his face and his watery hazel eyes heart breaking. "Let's go, _please_!"

"…why?" Iruka blinked up at him.

Kakashi seemed in a stupor, his head inclined to the side slightly, his onyx eye half closed in confusion, but he seemed almost as shocked as Iruka. "…you could have run…but you came back for _me_…" Iruka just shook his head, not caring what he was babbling about, and tried to pull at Kakashi's hand again. But he wouldn't move.

"Kakashi! We need to-ah!" Kakashi snarled, and yanked Iruka towards him, lifting his wrist between them and squeezing it threateningly.

The warm fuzzy friendly man Iruka had seen before had been replaced.

This man was intense, intimidating beyond hell, and had such sharp, cold onyx eyes, he felt a layer of ice in their depths, piercing him with raw anger.

Why? What had Iruka done?

"You're scared, ne?"

"Hai!"

"Then why the fuck didn't you just run?"

"You were back there and-"

"So?"

"So I couldn't leave you!"

"Why not?" His grip on his wrist became so painful, Iruka had to grab at Kakashi's offensive hand, hoping to pull it off before his _own_ hand _dropped_ off. The scary thing was, Kakashi seemed to be strong enough to do just that…

"You were making me food! You were being nice! I couldn't just leave you! Those monsters could have gotten you!" Iruka sobbed, scared, hurting, and far from his comfort zone, in this scary, strange, haunted house with this scary, strange man. "And it would have been my fault again!" Iruka fell backwards, falling in a heap on the floor. He immediately cradled his throbbing wrist to his chest, but wobbled to his knees, and looked up at Kakashi with desperate brown eyes.

Kakashi was just staring at him.

Being on your own for thousands of years made you used to seclusion, and yet, _bored_ at the same time. So when he heard that a boy was being dared to come into his prison, he intended to have a little fun for once.

Nothing too fancy, just a few screams here, levitating there.

But this boy didn't cry for help and run, he came to get _him_.

He didn't think of himself, like Kakashi did.

"You didn't cry for your mommy." Isn't that something little boys do when they're scared? He had been looking forward to that…_had_ been…

"I don't have one." Iruka snapped, feeling as if he was being mocked for his not-so-manly reaction. And yeah, so he was crying like a girl, but he was scared! "For you're information, I don't have _anyone_ to cry _for!" _Iruka spat, getting to his feet and sobbing through a scowl. "Are you coming or not?!"

Kakashi just took a step back, and stared at him.

So he was an orphan, so what? He had been responsible for creating hundreds of orphans in his long lifetime.

So…why did this one tug at his cold heart, making him sick with guilt?

"You're an orphan?"

"Hai. Now can we just g-"

"Then who do you live with? Do you live in an orphanage?"

"No." He growled, on the defensive. Why the hell would he want to know that?

"So you were adopted?"

"_No."_ He growled again, fisting his wrist against his chest, brown eyes narrowing on the silver haired man.

"Then, where do you-"

"I live in an apartment. A social worker comes and checks on me at the weekends, you know…" He scowled, looked to the side. "…to make sure I'm still _alive_."

Kakashi felt like he'd been slapped in the face.

"You're all alone?" His throat was dry, and he struggled just to bring his arms up to cross them over his chest.

"Hai, I'm _alone_." Iruka closed his eyes, his jaw tense and his words snapping. This was a very touchy subject for him.

"…how long?"

"2 years, 3 months, and 18 days. I have hazel eyes, O blood type, slight hay fever, I'm 13 years old, and have quite the weakness for music, so if there is anything else that you, _a complete stranger_, wants to ask me, go on. I'll answer, just so you'll just get out of here." His hazel eyes were penetrating, and Kakashi couldn't find his voice at first.

"…you've lived on your own for 2 years?"

"Hai."

"…you're alone."

"Hai." Kakashi hung his head to the side, closing his eye, and sighing deeply. He then looked to Iruka, and couldn't help but frown at his tear stained face. "Come here."

"Why?!"

"I'll take care of that for you." He nodded towards his hand.

"No!" Iruka glared at him immaturely, holding his hand to his shoulder, stepping back. "I'm _fine_. I'm _not_ some sort of wussy girl…I'm not weak…"

"No, I think you're very strong." Iruka looked up, blinking as Kakashi reached out for his hand, but he just stepped back.

"Outside! Look at it outsi-"

"You're perfectly safe now, Iruka. I swear, you'll never have to go through anything like that again." Iruka croaked at the back of his throat, caught off guard by the heavy promise of his voice. "If you stay with me, you'll always be safe, I promise." Iruka's eyes softened and he hiccupped, sniffling and walked obediently towards Kakashi. With a tight chest, Kakashi dropped to his knees, and tenderly pried Iruka's wrist from his chest. He smoothed his hands over his wrist, pressing for any tender areas that would bruise.

Luckily it didn't seem like it would swell, maybe just darken slightly. "Good, you'll be ok."

"H how long have you lived here?" Kakashi raised his onyx eye to the boy, seeing his tanned cheeks blushing ever so faintly. He smiled warmly under his mask, and cupped Iruka's hands.

"A very long time."

"Are you…I mean, married or anything?" Iuka blushed to the side. "You know, have a wife and family? This place is huge, you couldn't just live here by yourself."

"It's just me in this place." He chuckled, like he did when Iruka first met him, with warmth and pure joy. "I'm alone too."

"Really?

"Really really."

"You don't…"

"I don't have a family either." Iruka looked down at their hands, obviously awkward about the way Kakashi just held them between them. And with him knelt like that, their eyes were at the same height, as if Kakashi had lowered himself to Iruka's level.

"And…if we stick together…we'll really be ok?"

"Hai, I promise." Iruka sniffled, closing his eyes and whimpering, his bottom lip quivering.

"It called my name." he sobbed, and trembled. "It, it told me to die." Iruka whine softly, and gasped as he was pulled against a firm chest.

"Forgive me, Ru-kun." Kakashi rubbed soothing circles into his back, holding him tightly.

Iruka slowly held onto Kakashi's neck, the explosion of spiky silver hair tickling the side of his face, warming his cheek as he melted into the hold.

"I'd forgotten…what this was like." Kakashi's eye snapped wide open, his breath caught in his throat. "…my momma was the last one to hold me…" Kakashi held him tighter, feeling every sorrowful word wedging into his chest, twisting until he couldn't help it. He _had_ to make it up to him.

For his own sick amusement he was willing to torture and scare this boy, but now that he'd heard his story…

…so much like his own…

"Ru-kun, you still up for ramen and cookies?" He rubbed his back, and Iruka nodded mutely, his cheek nuzzling the side of his head.

"Mm Hmm."

"Milk too, ne?"

"Hai."

"Then come on." Kakashi rose to his feet, stepped back, and held his hand out for Iruka with such a tender smile, Iruka was mystified. "I'll take care of you from now on, Iruka. I really do mean it now." Timidly, Iruka placed his hand into Kakashi's much larger, much paler, much _colder_ one, and felt him wrap his supple fingers around his palm. "I think I'm in the mood for cookies now."

"Alright!" Iruka pulled his hand, leading him towards the kitchen with a bright grin, not seeing the soft gratified smile or curve to Kakashi's sorry onyx eye.

This boy was the only living creature he had ever felt bad about tricking, and immediately _unable_ to harm. He was also the first to have ever touched his heart, been similar to himself, but even more significant than _that_…

…no one had ever cared about _him_ before.

In the face of danger Iruka hadn't run for his life, but done all he could to try and make Kakashi leave for safety.

And no one had ever spared him a thought before.

Kakashi watched as his new guest sat himself at the kitchen table, grinning cutely with beaming hazel eyes. Kakashi had to stop himself from just staring at him contently, and served them ramen, cookies, and milk.

Which happened to 'magically' appear in the cupboard, cooked and ready to go…


	3. Nighty night, Rukun

_**Chapter 3 **_

Kakashi soon blinked, realising that not only was Iruka not eating, but the boy was staring up at him.

"Nani?"

"Aren't you having any?"

"I'm not hungry Ru-kun."

"You can call me Iruka if you want."

"No, I prefer Ru-kun, thank you very much." Kakashi chuckled, and Iruka pulled the steaming ramen bowl towards him. "And I _insist_ that you call me Ka-kun."

"O, hai." The dark blush that rose to his cheeks was priceless, and Kakashi made sure to memorise every detail of him. It was strange, but he found himself staring at the boy quite a lot in the short time he'd known him. "Itadakimasu!" Iruka picked up his chopsticks and started to wolf the bowl down. Kakashi just smiled and watching him, only to blink as the bowl clinked to the table, empty.

_No way, this kid can't be human and eat so fast! Reminds me of Kyu-_

"Gochisousama." Iruka placed his chopsticks in the bowl, and pushed the plate of cookies between them. "Want one?" his cheeks were already flushed, his gaze shy.

"No thanks."

"Sure?"

"Hai."

"Positive?"

"Yep."

"They look good."

"I'm sure they are. Eat them and tell me afterwards."

"But if you want one, you should have one." Kakashi just barked a laugh, and ruffled the top of Iruka's head. Iruka pouted, waving his hands up to try and stop him. "Nani?!"

"I'm not taking my mask off, you curious little pup. So eat your cookies and simmer." Iruka pouted even more, blushing furiously at being sussed out.

He was in a strange house, with a strange man, and he didn't even know what he looked like with that mask on and one eye covered.

In any normal kid's head, alarm bells would be going, excuses would be made, and he would be home as soon as possible.

But Umino Iruka was no normal kid, so he just ignored it for now.

Besides, it's not like he had anyone to go home _to_…

Again, he got that 'being watched' feeling, and looked up to find Kakashi happily watching him. _Again_.

"Hn." He moodily chomped into a cookie, only to moan and sag in his chair.

"Good?"

"Hai!" Iruka furiously ate his way through them, not catching the amused looks Kakashi was giving him.

At last he finished all 12 giant chocolate chip cookies, unable to resist even one of them, and held his glass of milk before him on the table.

"I'll get the bed ready." Iruka blinked up at him, and cocked his head to one side, all the question he needed. "You intended to sleep here, ne?"

"…well…" Iruka frowned, and turned his glass on the table.

_That's right, I didn't tell Kakashi-san why I came here. He just welcomed me inside and…and hasn't stopped being kind to me._

"…_you're alone?"_

When Kakashi asked that, he sounded so pitiful, so raw and broken, it hit Iruka hard. It was almost as if _Kakashi_ was alone too.

He must be lonely, in a big place like this without any friends or family, or anyone to at least _talk_ to.

_That has to be it. He let me come inside because he wants someone to __talk__ to._ Iruka beamed his best smile, hazel eyes bright and wide.

"Hai, I'd love to sleep over if you let me, Kakashi-san."

"What do I have to do to get you to just call me Ka-kun?" Iruka blushed and chuckled. "And you can stay as long as you like." Kakashi laughed with a curved eye, and started to turn in the doorway.

"Really?" Iruka got up, eyes questioning. Kakashi paused, and nodded without turning in the doorway. "You can stay as long as you like, Ru-kun. For all eternity, if you so wish…"

Kakashi was gone, and Iruka just gaped after him.

He'd never had an open invitation before.

_Wait…did Kakashi just leave me __**alone**_?!?!

"KAKASHI!!!!" Iruka bolted out of the kitchen, round the corner and ran smack bang into a firm back. Kakashi craned his neck over his shoulder and blinked down at him. Iruka knew he'd appear pathetic like this, like before in the hall, but he would _not_ be alone. Not in a haunted house! "I, erm, I'll help." He squeaked, and blushed at the warm smile to Kakashi's eye. "You said that we'd be safe if we were together, so-"

"Forgive me, Ru-kun. I shouldn't have left you alone." That's what he'd told the poor boy to calm him down. he'd have to play along, for now. Iruka just pouted a blush, and looked away childishly.

"I just didn't want anything to happen to _you_, that's all."

"Of course!" Kakashi laughed, and ruffled the boy's hair.

"Hay!"

"That's what horses eat." Iruka reached up, trying to get Kakashi's larger hand out of his hair, as his ponytail was starting to sag with the nuggy he was receiving.

"No fair! Give up!" Kakashi laughed, his eye curved, and he added his other hand to Iruka's hair, loving the way the boy seemed torn between shouting at him, and laughing his head off.

Kakashi froze, pulling his hands back, as Iruka's hair tie fell out and his rich chocolate hair fell around his shoulders, feather light and shimmering. Kakashi stared down at the boy, who was now squirming to locate his hair tie, a little _too_ frantically, and didn't see the light blush rise to Kakashi's cheeks through the mask.

_He's so…beautiful…_

With his hair down, you could have mistaken Iruka for a pretty little girl at a passing glance, with his big hazel eyes, shoulder length hair and bottom lip nipped between his teeth nervously.

It was enough to make Kakashi want to run his hands back thorough his hair, to see if it was really as soft as it looked.

It was only when he saw the bitter look on Iruka's face, did he blink out of it.

Iruka scowled, furiously fingering his hair back, holding it behind his head as he finally found his bobble by his feet.

"You don't have to stare." He spat, fumbling to be angry and do his hair at the same time.

All his life, Iruka had to put up with being teased for his femininity. Apparently he had a chibi-kawaii baby face, big beautiful brown eyes and long 'girlie' hair.

It was the whole reason people started calling him Iruka-chan in the first place.

And having someone as cool as Kakashi stare at him like that…

Iruka looked over Kakashi again, his tight black trousers, black tank top clinging to his athletic, toned body and rippling abdomen, his bare biceps on show, his left one outlined with a bold swirling leaf tattoo, a tribute to just how masculine he looked, with his unique silver hair spiked to one side, his face hidden mysteriously by a mask and one eye by a head band. Even the eye you _could_ see looked cool, so dark and fathomless, yet had that all-knowing twinkle to it…and something darker…

And then there was Iruka, skinny little 13 year old boy, in denim dungarees and a white T shirt, long brown hair and hardly any muscles on him at all.

Yes, it was _definitely_ a put down to have someone who was everything Iruka _wished_ he was, look at you stupefied like that.

He grumbled, sulking as he tied his hair back and looked off to one side.

"What if I _wanted_ to stare at you?" Iruka blinked, and looked up at him.

"Oro? Why would you want to?"

"Because." . Kakashi chuckled, and curved his eye as he cocked his head to one side, and pointed upward. "I appreciate pretty things. Come, I'll show you." He twirled on his feet, and put his hands in his pockets, leading the way. Iruka followed him, and cocked his head to one side, his arms folded.

_...did he just call me pretty?_

Iruka fumed, and stomped his foot.

"I'm not pretty!" Kakashi stopped in the hallway, and looked over his right shoulder, showing him his curved eye.

"Yeah, and I'm a raving bisexual." His sarcasm was clear, and Iruka blushed awkwardly.

That wasn't something you just say in front of a 13 year old boy. True or not.

"…erm…are you?" Iruka didn't even know why he asked that, and immediately shoved his hands in his pockets, and looked away. "Gomen, I-"

"Nah, I only swing one way kid." Iruka blinked, and looked up at him. but Kakashi had already started walking off to where ever he was going. Iruka hurried after him, wondering if he dared asked _which way_ he swung…

_It's obvious. He's __**got**__ to be straight, right? He's too cool and manly to be gay._ Iruka blinked. _Not that I would care if he was gay or anything. I'm straight too._ Iruka pursed his lips together, and shuffled after him, brooding to himself. _That's why I'm here. To prove to Kenji that I'm was straight_.

That way, he'd be his friend.

He watched the ripple of Kakashi's shoulder blades as he walked behind him, neither saying anything, until Kakashi turned and walked them into a bedroom.

It was silver and green for as far as Iruka see, as he adopted the gaping fish expression.

A vast, plush, shaggy silver carpeting beneath his feet, a raised futon, dark mahogany wood with thick green drapes veiling a large, cosy silver duvet cover and pillows. There was a large dark mahogany wardrobe, dressing table, and cabinet at the other side of the room, but the glass windows in it had been blacked out with sandy coloured boards.

_What's he hiding in there…_

"You can sleep here tonight, Ru-kun." Iruka immediately yawned, and stretched his arms up in the air.

"Arigato, Kakashi-sa-" Iruka blinked up at Kakashi, who had his arms folded over his chest, and his brow raised over his visible eye. "…Ka-kun. You're not going to ever let me call you Kakashi-san, are you?"

"Nope." He chuckled, his eye curved, as he pointed to the side of the bed. "Your bag is there, get changed. I'll just go lock the doors."

"Right…about that…" Iruka laughed nervously. "I thought I was entering an empty haunted house, so I don't have a change of clothes. I thought it would be warmer in my sleeping bag to stay dressed…so…can I sleep in your bed like this?"

"Iie." Kakashi placed his hand on Iruka's head, and smiled down at him. "I'll get you something to wear, ok?" Iruka beamed, and nodded up at him.

"Arigato."

"Daijoubu, it's my pleasure." Kakashi walked over to the wardrobe, and sifted through something, as Iruka sat on the soft silver duvet, and pulled off his socks. "It's going to look like a tent on you, but put this on." Iruka barely had time to look up, before he was engulfed by something he could only identify as white.

"Aaa! Ek, is it possible to drown in laundry?" Kakashi chuckled at his joke, and Iruka continued to thrash for freedom, laughing on the bed. Iruka gave up, and flopped on his back, whimpering comically. "Kaaa-kuuuuuuun. I think I'll just stay like this for a while…" Iruka closed his eyes and relaxed. _This bed feels like silk…like I'm hovering on silk…_

"Ha! I think not! You're taking over half the bed like that!" Iruka raised a brow, and saw the outline of a hand reaching out to him. a fist grabbed the 'thing' over his face, and pulled it back.

Iruka resumed his earlier gaping fish impression.

Kakashi had removed all his clothes, and now had a large silk black sleeping yukata falling off one of his muscular, creamy shoulders, revealing one of his pumped biceps, that happened to don the bold leaf symbol. It opened over his front, showing such a Herculean torso…Iruka gulped. Firm, flat pecks, rippling tonned abdominal muscles, resembling more of an _eight_ pack than a six pack, and the slender black belt tied low down his hips, but hid his navel downwards.

Iruka's face was as red as a beetroot, his lips pursed, and hazel eyes wide.

_This man is a god. _

It made him look scrawny in comparison. "Ru-kun?"

"I think I'll chest now. Rest! I meant rest! I'll _rest_ now!" Iruka squeaked up at his face, and gulped.

He'd removed his mask and head band.

His jaw was just as defined as it looked through his mask, no stubble in sign, an angular nose, a dark onyx eye…and a deep crimson one.

Iruka could stop staring at it, absolutely hypnotised.

He had one black, and one crimson eye. It had three black teals in it, and there was a long, thin scar from above his left silver eyebrow, through his eyelids and half way down his cheekbone.

"I have decided to show you my face, like no one else has ever seen it. And lived." Iruka's lips trembled. His eyes were wide open, and Kakashi had leaned forward. He pressed his hands to either side of his head on the bed, bringing his bare chest close to the boy's smaller frame, and his nose inches from Iruka's. "It is because I have seen something in you, which I haven't seen for thousands of years. I intend to treasure it, and so, I trust you." Iruka gulped loudly.

Why couldn't he stop looking at Kakashi's lips when he was talking to him?

_Thousands of years? He's exaggerating, right?_

"…I…"

"You know, you're a hypocrite." Kakashi chuckled, and Iruka was blown away by his amazing smile. It creased along his lips, and his scar even moved with it.

"I, Nani? Nande?" (I, what? why?)

"Because I'm not allowed to stare at you when you look pretty, but you're staring at me right now. And you think I'm pretty right now, don't you Ru-kun?" Iruka blushed even more, if it was possible, and gripped the duvet beneath him.

How did he get into this situation again?

Laid on a bed, which was not his own, with the most attractive man in the world covering him. It can't be natural to be _that_ good looking, can it?

_It certainly isn't __fair_

"Y you what?"

"You think I'm pretty, don't you? Isn't that how young boys describe people they find attractive these days?"

"N no…w we s s say they're…cute…"

"So ka…" Kakashi smirked, and winked at him with his crimson eye. "Then, Ru-kun, I think you're _very_ cute."

Iruka squeaked in the back of his mouth, lips pursed together now.

Was this some sort of confidence boosting thing? He saw the older boys at school tell each other if they look hot before they go off to chat up a girl…so was this that? A man to man ego stroking thing?

It was the only explanation Iruka could come up with. As _obscure_ as it was.

"…Arigato…"

"Do you think I'm cute, Ru-kun?" His nose brushed with his by accident as Kakashi moved to kneel on the futon as well, and Iruka bit his lower lip.

This was a cruel overload for a hormonally unstable 13 year old boy.

"Hai." He squeaked again, and thought he'd have a nose bleed all over Kakashi's creamy pale chest. _I'm straight, I'm straight, I'm straight!_ He kept repeating over and over again to himself, and resisted the urge to sigh loudly with relief, when Kakashi lifted away from him.

"I thought you might, Ru-kun." He whispered, and crawled over to the other side of the immense silver futon. Iruka snapped up, and stared as Kakashi laid himself down on his side, his head resting on his hand, elevated by the elbow pressed into the pillow beneath it, and his other hand patting the bed next to him. "Hurry and get changed Ru-kun. You look ready for that chest-oh-_rest_." Iruka bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from screaming in embarrassment, grabbed the white thing Kakashi had placed next to him, and scuttled off the bed, and round the other side of the bed, where the green drapes hid him from Kakashi, and vice versa.

At this point, in the mind of any slightly normal kid, alarm bells would be ringing right about now. But Iruka wasn't like a normal kid, and suppressed the annoying buzzing of 'danger, danger, molestation and paedophile ahead' in the back of his head.

_Kakashi's nice to me. No one has ever been nice to me._

Iruka pulled off his white tank top and dungarees, opting to keep his pants on, and folded his clothes on his bag. He then looked to the white thing, and discovered it was another yukata, but soft cotton, and far too big for even _Kakashi_.

Iruka looked closer, and pulled what looked like a silver hair from it. But…it looked like a _dog_ hair. Iruka shrugged, waved it in the air once, and couldn't find anymore hairs. He slid his arms into the sleeves, which trailed around his ankles, and wrapped it around him tightly, finding no belt.

Iruka hopped over to the bed, feeling like he was doing a sack race on sports day, and bounced onto the bed. He laughed, and turned to face Kakashi, who was smiling that amused smile again.

"Nani?"

"You. You make me smile." He chuckled, and spooned an arm around Iruka's slim, albeit lumpy waist due to the tightly clumped yukata. Iruka struggled at first, but as soon as he came back to front with Kakashi, a strong around holding him close, without trying anything, he relaxed. The warmth of Kakashi's body behind him made his eyes droop, and he finally realised just how tired he really was. "Sleep, Ru-kun. I'll watch over you."

"…all night?"

"Hai. All night."

Iruka yawned, and snuggled back against Kakashi, slipping away into a deep sleep.

_I've never felt so warm…so safe…not since momma…Mmmm…_

Iruka sighed, and his breathing levelled off, unaware of Kakashi as he waved his hand over Iruka's head, and his hair tie vanished. It as then, that Kakashi took the opportunity to finger through Iruka's thick brown, father soft locks, playing with one between his supple fingers.

"…It _has_ been some time since I last had a companion…Ru-kun. Would you? Wold you by mine if I asked you?" Kakashi whispered, and smirked. "That is, assuming, I give you a choice…" Kakashi licked his lips, rested his face on his pillow close to Iruka's head, and basked in Iruka's scent. "It seems, life has suddnely gotten interesting...let's see if you'll last, Ru-kun..."


End file.
